 |
| Dr Solomon Jere |
A combined team of law enforcement officers led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Dr Solomon Jere yesterday conducted a successful operation and seized expired, counterfeit and pirated goods from several shops and market stalls in Livingstone.
Dr Jere said the operation was an inter-agency initiative involving the police, Immigration Department and the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and was aimed at enhancing coordination among law enforcement agencies in the manner they address offences relating to counterfeit and pirated goods.
“The Zambia Police Intellectual Property Unit in conjunction with Cycorp Limited
and other law enforcement agencies have moved in forcefully to address this
issue of counterfeit and pirated goods since government is losing a lot of revenue,” he said.
Dr Jere said this in Livingstone yesterday after seizing counterfeit products worth millions of kwacha from New Falls Way Shop and from traders at the Town Centre Market.
He said many people had continued to die due to consumption and use of counterfeit and pirated goods.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police said it was unfortunate the current trade and
commerce trends in the country involved a lot of counterfeit and pirated goods.
He warned the public to be cautious especially when buying products such as baby formula and electrical gadgets.
“Members of the public especially mothers should be careful when buying products such as baby formula and advised them to buy only those with instruction leaflets since the counterfeited product lacked the leaflets,” he said.
A check by the combined team of law enforcers at New Falls Way Shop found a
hidden basement stocked with consumable products, some of which expired in 2007.
Livingstone City Council Health Inspector Muchoka Muchoka said the local
authority was ignorant about the existence of the basement despite conducting
inspections every two weeks.
Mr. Muchoka said all shops that had basements were listed at the city council
and alleged that management at the New Falls Way Shop deliberately concealed the existence of the basement which also served as a warehouse for expired goods from the local authority.
Meanwhile, Intellectual Property Specialist, Kingsley Nkonde said among the
seized goods, were cigarettes that did not have tax stamps and as such were
being sold illegally inZambia
He said even the condoms confiscated did not have relevant documentation to
prove they had been tested by the Zambia Bureau of Standards before being
offloaded on the market.
Mr. Nkonde described cigarettes as high value products for which government was losing billions of kwacha every year since they were being sold illegally in the country.
“Expired, counterfeit and pirated goods are quite dangerous and it is
disheartening for business people to knowingly offload them on the market and
deprive government of revenue,” he said.
And Southern Province Police Commanding Officer Lemmy Kajoba said some culprits had been arrested and would soon appear in court for prosecution.
Mr. Kajoba said the operation was just a tip of the iceberg as more was yet to
be done in a bid to stop traders from selling harmful products.
Cycorp Limited organized a two-days training workshop on Anti-Counterfeit and
Anti-Piracy for officers from various law enforcement agencies under the theme:
Fighting Counterfeit and Piracy within borders from the 6th to the 7th of September 2010.
ZANIS
Dr Jere said the operation was an inter-agency initiative involving the police, Immigration Department and the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and was aimed at enhancing coordination among law enforcement agencies in the manner they address offences relating to counterfeit and pirated goods.
“The Zambia Police Intellectual Property Unit in conjunction with Cycorp Limited
and other law enforcement agencies have moved in forcefully to address this
issue of counterfeit and pirated goods since government is losing a lot of revenue,” he said.
Dr Jere said this in Livingstone yesterday after seizing counterfeit products worth millions of kwacha from New Falls Way Shop and from traders at the Town Centre Market.
He said many people had continued to die due to consumption and use of counterfeit and pirated goods.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police said it was unfortunate the current trade and
commerce trends in the country involved a lot of counterfeit and pirated goods.
He warned the public to be cautious especially when buying products such as baby formula and electrical gadgets.
“Members of the public especially mothers should be careful when buying products such as baby formula and advised them to buy only those with instruction leaflets since the counterfeited product lacked the leaflets,” he said.
A check by the combined team of law enforcers at New Falls Way Shop found a
hidden basement stocked with consumable products, some of which expired in 2007.
Livingstone City Council Health Inspector Muchoka Muchoka said the local
authority was ignorant about the existence of the basement despite conducting
inspections every two weeks.
Mr. Muchoka said all shops that had basements were listed at the city council
and alleged that management at the New Falls Way Shop deliberately concealed the existence of the basement which also served as a warehouse for expired goods from the local authority.
Meanwhile, Intellectual Property Specialist, Kingsley Nkonde said among the
seized goods, were cigarettes that did not have tax stamps and as such were
being sold illegally in
He said even the condoms confiscated did not have relevant documentation to
prove they had been tested by the Zambia Bureau of Standards before being
offloaded on the market.
Mr. Nkonde described cigarettes as high value products for which government was losing billions of kwacha every year since they were being sold illegally in the country.
“Expired, counterfeit and pirated goods are quite dangerous and it is
disheartening for business people to knowingly offload them on the market and
deprive government of revenue,” he said.
And Southern Province Police Commanding Officer Lemmy Kajoba said some culprits had been arrested and would soon appear in court for prosecution.
Mr. Kajoba said the operation was just a tip of the iceberg as more was yet to
be done in a bid to stop traders from selling harmful products.
Cycorp Limited organized a two-days training workshop on Anti-Counterfeit and
Anti-Piracy for officers from various law enforcement agencies under the theme:
Fighting Counterfeit and Piracy within borders from the 6th to the 7th of September 2010.
ZANIS
No comments:
Post a Comment